> An "exchange only" policy should be in place. And only for unopened items.
Your idea needs to have a meeting with Mr Reality.
a) The business world is competitive, you are competing with the likes of Amazon who have a no-nonsense returns policy. If you become known as a business with a troublesome returns process, then customers will simply vote with their feet.
b) People returning stuff after short-use is, like it or not, a fact of life in today's world. Ask anyone who sells fashion goods ... girls buy stuff for the Friday night party and return it on Monday. It happens and it's basically a cost of doing business. If the stock is any good, it will get sold anyway, just as nearly-new instead of new.
c) In an increasing number of jurisdictions, the law falls on the side of the buyer. For example in the EU, your "exchange only" policy would be an absolute non-starter (with very few exceptions, e.g. food items, healthcare items etc).
> c) In an increasing number of jurisdictions, the law falls on the side of the buyer. For example in the EU, your "exchange only" policy would be an absolute non-starter (with very few exceptions, e.g. food items, healthcare items etc).
With the exception of online purchases, that's only true for the return of non-faulty items. In Ireland, for example, you have no right to change your mind after the purchase and return the item just because you didn't like it (except for online purchases, which must allow 14 days for return).
Now, many shops will still allow you to return items within a certain time frame for your money back, but they would be well within their rights to operate an exchange-only or store-credit policy (and some do!).
However, if the item is faulty or not fit for purpose then the seller must offer you a replacement, repair, refund, or reduction in price. Whether or not you are entitled to choose which of these you get is dependent on how long since you bought the item, and whether or not the suggested repairs/replacement are reasonable.
> If the stock is any good, it will get sold anyway, just as nearly-new instead of new.
Not really. Most of it ends up in a dumpster unless these are really high-end items. Or in some liquidation warehouse if the quality is good enough. Otherwise, probably on a landfill in Ghana.
That's a really good reason why clothing stores should be exchange-only for returns. If you don't like it or it doesn't fit, you should be able to find something else in the store that fits that you do like.
Return fraud leading to perfectly good clothes being wasted is not only bad for the environment but likely leads to higher clothes prices for legitimate customers.
>b) People returning stuff after short-use is, like it or not, a fact of life in today's world. Ask anyone who sells fashion goods ... girls buy stuff for the Friday night party and return it on Monday. It happens and it's basically a cost of doing business. If the stock is any good, it will get sold anyway, just as nearly-new instead of new.
Not to mention it's basically giving those people an interest free loan funded by the rest of us.
Perhaps if a business lost sales to "girls buy[ing] stuff for the Friday night party" they might gain them from people like me who see the prices as higher than I'd want to pay in the first place.
On the other hand, I've received items from Amazon before that were clearly previously opened and returned, sometimes with missing pieces, once the item was clearly defective. Due to this subpar experience I no longer order anything from Amazon since, personally, I'd rather not spend my time returning things and their slipshod policy almost guarantees I will have to.
I’ve reduced purchases on non-Amazon sites because they expect me to pay to ship a return back to them. Amazon not only pays all return costs they send someone to my door to pick up the return. Adding friction does lose customers.
It's amazing to me how much stuff people return. I have seen people buy a ton of stuff and return half of it on a regular basis. I guess it's a time filler for you/them. I don't run a store, so it doesn't affect me, but just seems like a huge waste of time.
I know several people who will buy something from multiple retailers so that they ensure that they get what they want when they want and return the "slow" items.
The part that these people are completely oblivious to is that they then have to wait for these packages, figure out what they are, print labels, and get them to a return location. This ends up being a cost in time akin to getting a workout in, reading a book, or taking a walk that day.
This is an exageration. It comes in the packaging, it's just tape, and most of these places, especially Walmart and Amazon, have counters in stores you might have wanted to go to anyway to return them without packaging them right anyway. When you do a Amazon return it gives you like a month to do it in
Having a shipping fee actually leads to less returns and frivolous purchases(not even accounting for wasted packaging+cost+labor)
Amazon is not doing this out of charity.They know suckers love friction less experience only to buy stuff they don't need and then forget to return it.
a) Most likely people who would ruin your business by returning stuff
b) Hence a policy to ward off this kind of clients. Why bother selling if you will have the item back - with the costs of restocking, processing, dumping or relisting, cleaning, etc?
c) I don't think so. Here in NZ and Australia very few places offer a return policy for change of mind - and most places are online outlets. IF you buy something on the street be prepared to have the option to exchange only.
Your idea needs to have a meeting with Mr Reality.
a) The business world is competitive, you are competing with the likes of Amazon who have a no-nonsense returns policy. If you become known as a business with a troublesome returns process, then customers will simply vote with their feet.
b) People returning stuff after short-use is, like it or not, a fact of life in today's world. Ask anyone who sells fashion goods ... girls buy stuff for the Friday night party and return it on Monday. It happens and it's basically a cost of doing business. If the stock is any good, it will get sold anyway, just as nearly-new instead of new.
c) In an increasing number of jurisdictions, the law falls on the side of the buyer. For example in the EU, your "exchange only" policy would be an absolute non-starter (with very few exceptions, e.g. food items, healthcare items etc).